About
About the project
SmellsLikeCodfish is a structured digital repository and systematized archive dedicated to the documentation, valuation, and preservation of the historical heritage of video games developed in Portugal and by Portuguese creators worldwide — a scene whose contributions have too often gone unrecorded.
Each entry aims to capture not just a title, but its context: the studio, the year, the platforms it reached, and the story of how it came to be. Studios and creators are documented too, so the people behind the work are remembered alongside it.
Our goal is simple — to make sure this work is remembered, valued, and freely accessible to researchers, players, and future creators.
What belongs here
A game belongs in this archive when its creative authorship is Portuguese.
Nothing is excluded for being small, obscure, amateur, unfinished, or commercially unsuccessful.
An entry that isn't a plain commercial release says so.
The archive also holds mods — modifications of games that already exist, made by Portuguese people.
Studios and people are not admitted separately — they follow from the games.
We keep as little about a person as the record allows.
How entries are verified
Every entry carries a verification tier, so you always know how much to trust it.
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Documented A credible source documents its existence.
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Portuguese authorship A source establishes Portuguese authorship.
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Cross-checked Key details verified against a second independent source.
Step 2 is about evidence, not eligibility.
The tier counts how many steps are done.
Every card carries its tier in the top-right corner of the artwork.
- A completed step.
- A step not yet done.
- The star (lower-left) — a public comment by the subject, separate from the tiers.
- The Portuguese flag (lower-right) — the game can be played in European Portuguese.
The example has steps 1 and 2 complete.
First-party comments
Separate from the tiers, an entry may also carry a small star in the lower-left corner of its cover, marking that its subject commented on it in public.
The Portuguese flag
A game that can be played in European Portuguese carries a small Portuguese flag in the lower-right corner of its cover.
The absence of a flag is not the same as a “no” — most entries have simply not been checked yet.
The “wanted” tag
A yellow tag marks an entry the archive knows is unfinished.
The “community” tag
A green tag marks an entry a reader helped put together.
Transparency
This project is run in the open.
- Who runs it.
- Costs.
- Earnings.
- Data.
- Method.
- How the site is built.
- Changes.
- What we collect.
Your browser does talk to a few third parties in order to load the site.
How to help
This archive is built from public sources, so it is incomplete by definition. If you know of something missing, tell us.
Other archives
This archive is not the only one.